


Do I Make You Happy?

by Incoherentbabblings



Series: Tumblr Ask Game Prompts [35]
Category: Batgirl (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Pining, Romance, Second Chances, Stephanie Brown is Batgirl, Tim Drake is Red Robin, Tumblr Ask Box Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-20
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:35:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27080557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Incoherentbabblings/pseuds/Incoherentbabblings
Summary: Meeting Tim at Wayne Enterprises seeking help in a case, Stephanie gets caught out by the photo he keeps as his phone lock screen.
Relationships: Stephanie Brown/Tim Drake
Series: Tumblr Ask Game Prompts [35]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1970230
Comments: 2
Kudos: 23





	Do I Make You Happy?

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: 
> 
> _“Am I your lock screen?”  
>  “You weren’t supposed to see that.”_  
> &  
>  _“Please don’t cry”_

Waiting sucked. It was part of life, Stephanie knew this, but still. It sucked. Bruce had given her special dispensation to come and go from Wayne Enterprises as she pleased, though she didn’t make as much use of it as she could have. It was a world not for her. Everyone was in suits rushing around running a multi-billion company. Meanwhile Steph, in shorts and t-shirt, lingered outside Tim’s office. She did not belong here. 

“You can go in Stephanie,” Tim’s secretary said. Because of course Tim had one of those. “He’ll be back in a minute. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Oh. Thank you.” And then she pushed a pull door, cursing as she heard the secretary chuckle quietly to herself, as Steph slid inside.

Dropping her backpack on the leather sofa, she became desperate for something to do, and wandered around.

She wasn’t trying to be nosy, but exploring Tim’s workspace with him absent was… too juicy an opportunity to let pass her by.

Disappointingly, there was nothing worth finding. She wasn’t about to go snooping through his work, but she was curious about what – if anything – he had that was personal. He was such a closed book these days, any hint she could wriggle out about his emotional state was worth investigating.

But, no, there was nothing. No unique books, no photographs, _nothing_. Even his computer screensaver was something Wayne Industries related. She sat at his desk, rocking back and forth, waiting for him to arrive.

His cell phone sat face up, and though she was tempted to touch it, she didn’t.

Tim came in then, looking withdrawn, and she rose, smiling. He seemed surprised that she was even here and froze. She did not miss the ways his eyes lit up, just for a moment, and she did not miss his mouth twitch. It was like he wanted to smile, but something was preventing him.

“Why are you here?” he asked. Despite his words, his tone was not accusatory. 

Stephanie’s smile widened as she tried to be blithe. “Thought you could give me a helping hand. I’m stuck on some work.”

There was a case she had, in fact, been struggling with. She'd been unable to track the origin of rumours of missing children, and Stephanie had enough pride of self now to know when she needed to ask for help.

Tim looked more than a little delighted at her query for assistance, though still confused at why she had not waited until the evening to enquire.

“Sure Steph. Why ask now?”

“Well I thought –”

Tim’s phone buzzed and lit up. Instinctively at the sound of a notification, she looked down. Tim went pale, though she didn’t notice.

Her stomach churned uncomfortably at his lock screen photo. It was them, a couple of weeks after his sixteenth birthday. Steph had taken him to one of Gotham’s skate parks. He had been so shaken after Bruce’s sick test, she had just wanted to provide a distraction. She’d just wanted him to rest. She’d taken a dozen selfies during their day out. Tim had obviously held onto them. It was the two of them, Steph leaning over his shoulder, Tim with a scraped cheek from when he’d fallen from his board. They both looked very young and very happy.

Half a lifetime ago it felt.

She looked up at Tim, who looked sick with guilt. An uncomfortable stretch of time passed. Stephanie was not Tim’s girlfriend anymore. She barely counted as an acquaintance half the time. That photo was used only for one of two reasons: Tim still thought of her as more and used the photo either comfort or torture himself.

Stephanie thought of her own phone lock screen and wallpaper – some generic pictures of flowers and food – and frowned.

Tim tried to get the conversation back on track and walked over to pick his phone up.

“We can chat about the case in here. It’s all safe and soundproofed.”

Stephanie caught his wrist that was holding his phone as he picked it up, and Tim paused at her warm grip.

“Am I your lock screen?” she whispered.

“You weren’t supposed to see that.”

“Tim,” she begged, trying to catch his eye. “Why that photo?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I can change it if you want. If it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No. Answer the question. Why us? Why not your parents? Or Conner and you and Bart? Or you and Cass? Please tell me it’s not to hurt yourself.”

“What?” He looked mortified, but at least he was finally looking her in the eye.

“I just don’t want you to look at those photos and time and feel sad because I hurt you or because it’s gone. I don’t want to hurt you like that and…”

She quietened and Tim’s thumb brushed her cheek as soon as a tear fell.

“Please don’t cry. Steph, if it upsets you, I’ll change it.”

“Doesn’t it upset _you_?”

“I’m not that masochistic.” He shrugged and unlocked his phone. His wallpaper was his father, mother and baby Tim. He tapped his phone a couple of times and brought up his photo gallery. It was arranged very neatly, into folders and subfolders. _Gotham_ , _San Francisco_ , _Friends and Family_ … He tapped the last folder, then tapped the _Family_ subfolder, then another folder titled simply _Steph_. Stephanie held her breath as he did so. He'd put her under _Family_? And then there was the fact that her own folder was crammed pack full.

“I save photos, not just take them,” he explained. “So there’s a few from your social media. But I want to keep this stuff with me. Good memories. Promises more in future years. I need that sometimes.”

She chewed her index finger as she listened, allowing him to hold onto her waist. Distantly she noted they were standing close enough that she could smell his cologne, faded by a day's work. 

Tim continued, “That day was a good day. I wanted to remember it. I can pick something else. I don’t want you uncomfortable.”

She reached up to tap at the images, which Tim allowed her to do, showing no reservations of her going through his private photos. Quietly she went through many years, including ones he could have only gotten by asking her mother for copies. She laughed and smiled, eyes drying up. She noted there weren’t many from recent months. There and then, Stephanie made a quick decision. 

“I want you to change your lock screen,” she said, looking up at him. Tim’s face crumpled a little. She leaned in to nuzzle at his neck, seeing and feeling the shallow breath rattle out of him. She explained, “I came to ask for help because I wanted to spend more time with you in and out the costumes.”

His warm breath pushed back her hair as he exhaled heavily in relief. She couldn’t help herself, and pressed a kiss to his cheek, enjoying the soft gasp he made as she did so.

“You can take a newer one?” she pushed.

Finally, he relaxed completely, and the colour returned to his face. It was his turn to kiss her cheek, earning him bright lovely giggle.

“I would like that,” he said simply.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on Tumblr on the 20th of September 2020.


End file.
